I'd Kill You to Play Batman: Arkham City Right Now

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The wait is almost over, but it seems longer than ever.

By Greg Miller

With less than three weeks to go for console players, it seems kind of ridiculous to write a preview about Batman: Arkham City. Since the game's debut, we've been writing about how the sequel takes the combat and atmosphere of Batman: Arkham Asylum and unleashes it on an open world. But as of late, the articles have been breaking news, Rewind Theaters, comic book snippets and action figure photos. I haven't played Arkham City in months, and somehow I forgot a simple truth -- Batman: Arkham City is probably going to be completely awesome.

Exit Theatre Mode

This "duh" revelation comes after an hour with the completed game. I was going after Joker and Harley, but that wasn't what impressed me. As I glided, dove and climbed for more altitude with my cape, more and more stuff popped up for me to do. There were thugs everywhere – just patrolling – that I could engage or ignore. A ringing phone that connected me to Mr. Zsasz. An seemingly abandoned building that housed a Bane cutscene. Riddler clues spray painted on buildings.

Gotham's huge, and I can't wait to explore it. I don't even care about the story at this point (even though – SPOILER ALERT – the demo ended on the cliffhanger of the Joker "dying" in front of Batman). I just want to wander.

Part of that desire to just sit in a dark room and patrol the streets of Arkham City is fighting. Yeah, yeah – brawling and countering in the first game was simple to get into and fun to fool around with, but it strikes me as more satisfying in Batman: Arkham City. Three-man takedowns, catching objects and throwing them back at baddies, and the newfound ability to use gadgets mapped to the face buttons mid-combo made me feel even more like Batman.

Fighting is better than ever.

Same thing can be said for Catwoman. I stepped into one of her challenge rooms, and it was easy to feel the difference between Selina and Bruce. Batman's reversals are brutal and bone-snapping as he slams heads together. Catwoman's are quick and sensual as she presses her body against a foe and cracks his neck. I thought challenge rooms were OK in the last game, but connecting these reversals to kicks to flips to gadget grabs – I can't wait to see the chains I come up with.

So, in case you forgot while reading all of IGN's stories about the story and character skins, Batman: Arkham City feels and looks awesome. And it's still weeks away. Sigh.